Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 46 — page 87: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION He paused, and, pointing dramatically to Jimmy-boy the cat, sitting placidly in front of the fire, said: “‘... and there is proof of my second.” Obviously he’d expect some- thing more than a non-com- mittal grunt this time, so, looking suitably impressed, I gasped: “Great Scott! You mean. .?” I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I soon found out, for... “Yes,” he said, in a voice that mentally patted himself on the back. “Jimmy spent five minutes in the twelfth century and came back as right as rain.” Good Heavens! machines! He stood up. “Come and see it,” he said. I’ve always wanted to see a time machine, so I followed him to the back of the house, to his lab, prepared to go all agog at the powerful, yet graceful lines of the projectile. Oram Ithinkingofspaceships? Anyhow, there was no pro- jectile, no graceful lines. Not even a metal chamber with a dark, sinister doorway. All I could see was a wooden table with half a dozen arc lamps over it, and, in the corner, a Heath Robinson contraption of wires, dials Time 86 and switches. The table, though, when I took a closer look, wasn’t wood at all but some kind of plastic, new to me, and I lived among the blinking stuff. The Doc saw me poking it about, and said: “‘This is the discovery I made.’ He patted — the table. “‘As I told you it has unique shift properties.” “Oh yes, of course,” I replied brightly, wondering what a shift property looked like when it was out. “T’ve explained about the lamps,” he went on, “and that’s the Klystron on the panel.”?’ He waved his hand vaguely towards the corner. I replied: “‘Quite.”’ “IT think that’s all,”’ he said. Then he turned to me, quite casually. ““Weil, would you like a trip?” I had a strong idea that something like this was com- ing, and had been going over a few facts in my mind. Fact A—Only people in S.F. build time machines. Fact B—If time travel were possible, somebody from the future would have bobbed up here now, to have a gander at us. Therefore, time travel couldn’t be done. Fact C—The table, where > the body, apparently, went was not, as far as I could see, comiclookssconrn